US Workers' Rights

Workers' rights include a safe and healthy working environment, the right to collectively bargain, the elimination of all forms of forced labor, and the effective abolition of child labor.

Millions of people today in the US work in jobs and states that don't respect some of these workers' rights, worsening inequality. Despite having one of the most powerful economies in the world, the US falls far behind other peer nations when it comes to ensuring workers are safe, protected, and supported on the job.

Workers deserve rights and dignity, no matter where they live. We can move toward policies that support a more caring economy—one that enables all workers to care for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Oxfam partners with workers to advocate on Capitol Hill for stronger wages, better working protections, and more robust rights to organize and collectively bargain.

• For over a decade, we’ve championed the need for an increase in the federal minimum wage and an end to the subminimum tipped minimum wage. The federal wage has been stuck at a poverty wage of $7.25 an hour since 2009. The tipped minimum wage—the base pay for someone who receives a substantial portion of their wages from tips—has been just $2.13 for over 30 years.
  
  
• That millions of workers are stuck in low-wage jobs and struggling to make ends meet is the result of federal inaction to raise the minimum wage for all workers, regardless of where they live. This hurts our economy, and it deepens inequality. Women, especially Black and Latina women, and people of color are disproportionately represented among the low-wage workforce, meaning they’re more likely to be trapped in poverty.
  
  
• Over the last several years, Oxfam has produced original research tracking conditions for low-wage workers across the United States to help advocate for a raise in the federal minimum wage. Our most recent 2024 research shows the percentage of workers in each state earning under $17 an hour, as well as how raising the minimum wage in each state would affect its workers.

Some U.S. states have stepped in to fill the gap left by federal inaction, passing their own policies to expand paid family and medical leave, raise state minimum wages, and expand rights to organize. Without changes to federal policies to raise the floor for all workers, however, we are left with growing inequality from state to state.

Best and Worst States to Work

One of our flagship pieces of research in our advocacy for working families is the Best States to Work index. Formulated in 2017 and published for the first time in 2018, Oxfam’s Best States to Work Index was born out of a vacuum left by static federal policies in support of workers. This index—which ranks all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico on policies across our three themes of wages, worker protections, and rights to organize—is a celebration of those states that have stepped into the gap left by federal inaction.

As the federal government has slowly made improvements in worker policies since 2018, the index has grown and changed to reflect new landscapes for workers and new policy wins at the state and federal levels. For more, visit our Best States to Work hub, which contains our previous reports and the interactive map of our 2024 data.

Inspired by the annual Best States to Work Index, in 2023 Oxfam produced the Where Hard Work Doesn’t Pay Off report and index, comparing the United States to its economic peer nations on policies in support of low-wage workers and working families. As the wealthiest country in the world, the U.S. is either last or near last in every policy dimension, demonstrating a clear need to create a more robust policy landscape that invests in working people and working families.

Challenges facing working women

While working women in the US have made tremendous strides, they still face a myriad of problems in the workplace and the home that often result in lower incomes, longer hours, fewer opportunities, and increased risk of harassment and abuse. Women still face persistent wage gaps due to occupational segregation and discrimination, shoulder more than their share of care responsibilities outside the workplace, and face a systematic devaluing of jobs that historically have been considered “women’s work,” including care work. This is particularly true for women of color, who are disproportionately concentrated in low-wage jobs that lack basic protections and benefits.

This gender and racial inequality flows from racist and sexist exclusions in our labor laws that sought to leave Black women out. Oxfam is fighting to protect the rights of women in the workplace no matter what kind of job they hold.

Empowering Black women

“A New Era for Black Women” is three-year initiative at Oxfam that celebrates and elevates Black women as leaders of a powerful movement for change.

Together, we’re shining a light on economic inequality, fostering solidarity with Black low-wage earners, and building a collective vision for a brighter future. By centering the economic realities of Black women, especially in Southern states, we’re ensuring that Black voices lead the way in creating a robust policy agenda that benefits everyone. With this initiative, we aim to secure job protections, workplace advancements, and more pathways to higher-paying jobs. Together, we’re building a movement grounded in the realities of Black women’s lives, creating a foundation for lasting, impactful change.

At the heart of “A New Era for Black Women” is our deep commitment to being present in communities. We believe that real change starts by listening—by hearing directly from those whose voices have too often been marginalized. Through conversations, community gatherings, and grassroots engagement, we are learning from the stories, struggles, and triumphs of Black women. These insights guide our work, ensuring that our initiatives reflect the true needs and aspirations of the women we work alongside.

• In 2024, Oxfam released Unseen Work, Unmet Needs, a report that explores the dynamics of women’s paid and unpaid labor in the U.S., particularly for women of color, who are disproportionately affected by the dual impact of paid work and unpaid care responsibilities. This work, created in partnership with Prosperity Now, helps identify policy solutions to support women who overwhelmingly hold the care responsibilities in their homes, families, and communities.
  
  
• In 2023, Oxfam released its U.S. Care Policy Scorecard, an assessment of the U.S. federal care policy environment, which is failing caregivers and care workers in the U.S. These workers are disproportionately women, women of color, and immigrant women. This work helps to highlight the long histories of racial and gender discrimination that have undervalued certain jobs and roles in our society.
  
  
• Since 2021, as a supplement to the Best States to Work index, Oxfam has released a Best and Worst States for Working Women map, which ranks all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico on policies that either directly or disproportionately impact women at work.